Vol. 4, No. 5                                                                            September 2009

Fall Roundtable Meeting in Sullivan

The fall meeting of the Monadnock Historical Societies Forum will be held at the Sullivan Town Library on Wednesday 14 October 2009 beginning at 9:30 a.m. Chris Pratt of the Sullivan Town Archives will be hosting this meeting, which has been switched from our normal Thursday meeting day to a Wednesday to avoid a conflict with the library's scheduling.

The morning session will be our traditional roundtable gathering to share news and events of what each organization has been up to, along with gathering information on any needs, concerns, or issues your organization is facing. At some point during the morning session, we will also discuss our deaccessing venture and the quickly approaching collaborative exhibit and publication on Schools and Education in Cheshire County.

We will take our usual brown bag lunch after the morning session. For this meeting, bringing a lunch may be best, as the closest store is some distance from the library on Route 9.

After lunch, Chris Pratt will lead us in a discussion of some of the things that can be done to organize a small collection and steps to create a small archive using the Sullivan Archives as an example.

Directions: From Route 9, turn at the store in East Sullivan and proceed up the hill. When you reach the top of the hill, you will pass the Sullivan Elementary School and Post Office. A short distance beyond, there is a sharp curve to the left. The Library is on the right, after the curve, next to the fire station.

Schools & Education Collaborative Exhibit Project

Fall is close at hand and the exhibit subcommittee will soon be at work designing the exhibit. Thanks to everyone who has sent in their survey forms indicating what items you have in your collection that could be used for the exhibit. Once the subcommittee has designed the exhibit, they will contact each organization as to which items they would like to borrow for the exhibit.

As of the first week of September, there are a number of organizations that have not yet submitted a narrative to be used in the companion publication. The subcommittee will contact each of these organizations to make one last request. It is the subcommittee's hope to avoid the last minute rush and stress of organizing the publication as was experienced with the meetinghouse publication in 2006.

If you are planning to submit a narrative and have not yet done so, please do so as soon as possible, or contact Tom Haynes with any question you may have by calling 352-1895 or via email at dired@hsccnh.org . If possible, it would be helpful to receive your submission by email.

30 October 09 - Deadline for delivery of the artifacts/items that the subcommittee has requested for display in the exhibit.

20 November 09 - Tentative date planed to open the exhibit with its companion publication.

Deaccessioning

At the spring meeting in Westmoreland, it was agreed to ask Greg Bixby of Keene, a professional auctioneer, appraiser, and HSCC volunteer, to develop a set of guidelines so he can receive items deaccessed from our collections to sell them on Ebay. Greg is planning to attend our fall Roundtable meeting in Sullivan to present and discuss the guidelines and to field questions. Using HSCC as a distribution center for this deaccessing venture will also be part of the discussion.

Wyman Tavern Forum: Creating a Community Museum

On Tuesday October 6th, the Historical Society of Cheshire County will host a final forum to present its draft long range plan for the Wyman Tavern Museum. After the presentation, HSCC will seek community comments, further discussion, and any additional suggestions on how HSCC can operate its historic structure. It is HSCC's hope that this final meeting will provide HSCC with the support to write a final long range plan for the Wyman Tavern.

The forum will be held in HSCC's Exhibit Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m. Copies of the long range plan may be obtained at the Historical Society or viewed online at the HSCC website at www.hsccnh.org/wymantavern.cfm. HSCC's staff and trustees encourage everyone who has an interest in the future of the Wyman Tavern and the preservation of the region's historic buildings to attend this important forum. It is our goal to have the Wyman Tavern be active, community oriented museum that enriches the lives of everyone. For further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

Contact & Website Information

For all questions or concerns regarding any aspect of the Monadnock Historical Societies Forum, please contact HSCC's Tom Haynes at 603-352-1895 or dired@hsccnh.org. Please remember to post and share this newsletter with your members. Also, please remember to submit your events for posting on the Roundtable Events page of the Roundtable Forum website.